The invention relates to miniaturized apparatus for inflating a pneumatic tire, such as a tire used on an automobile, truck, bicycle or other vehicle. The apparatus is small enough to fit in a limited space, such as in a tire well for a deflated, space-saving tire in a trunk of an automobile or in a glove compartment of an automobile. The apparatus is light in weight, portable and can be carried or held in one hand by the user. The apparatus is adapted to be attached directly to a valve of a tire to inflate the tire. The inflating gas is derived solely from burning a pyrotechnic material, preferably a slow burning, compacted pyrotechnic material. The apparatus does not use a stored fluid of any type, neither a compressed nor a liquefied gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,008,646 to Kassner, issued in 1911, discloses an apparatus for inflating a tire which is transportable, but not miniaturized and which uses celluloid to generate a gas upon burning. The device of the Kassner patent is not attached directly to the tire valve. Modern tire inflation apparatus have heretofore depended upon a stored fluid, either compressed gas or liquefied gas, rather than a gas generated by burning a pyrotechnic material, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,448,779 and 3,513,885 to Horwitt; 2,498,596 to Wallace; and 2,218,931 to Carlson. The use of a comparatively faster-burning pyrotechnic material to inflate a vehicle safety bag, without the use of a stored gas, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,618,980 and 3,618,981 to Leising; and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 316,947, filed Dec. 20, 1972 which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 110,845, filed Jan. 29, 1971, both entitled "Gas Generator," both filed in the name of John J. Sack and Thomas E. Lohr, and both having a common assignee with the present invention.
U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 520,506 filed Nov. 4, 1974, in the name of E. Garner and B. Hamilton, and having a common assignee with the present application, discloses a tire inflator of the type disclosed in this application, but which does not include the resilient insert such as a rubber or plastic embodiment to be described in detail hereinafter.